


A Garden For You

by Gismo070



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Borrower!AU, F/M, Giant/Tiny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-11 02:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11705199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gismo070/pseuds/Gismo070
Summary: Marinette is a teeny tiny girl, a little lady who lives under the floor boards of the Agreste summer home in the south of France. One summer, however, she isn't as careful as she should be and is spotted by one of the humans that lives there, a boy named Adrien. Curious by the small girl, Adrien begins to talk to her in hope of making a friend.





	1. Summer Cottage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien returns to his summer home. Ah sweet childhood memories!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fan-made story! Miraculous Ladybug is owned by Thomas Astruc and Zag Heroez. Please support the official release.

_The wind whistles past the trees, shaking their branches as leaves flutter down to the meadows below. Summer time in south France had come and it was hot, like the summer before with not a trace of clouds in the beautiful skies above. A vast void of blue faded well into the horizon as warm winds brought a silent promise of long days and plenty of sunshine._

_It was a peaceful little town, large meadows broken up by patches of trees and forests. Houses dotted the landscape and the buzz of cars driving down hidden roads under the cover of the trees sounded like a soft whisper in the distance._

_The world in this summer haze seemed to revolve around the small boy and his mother, well at least in his mind it did._

_A young Adrien Agreste sat perched in his mother's lap as she read to him, occasionally sipping ice cold lemon aid in an attempt to relieve himself from the overbearing heat. Flowers bloomed all around, filling the once grassy meadow with an abundance of color. A gentle stream weaved it's way around the garden as butterflies and bees moved from flower to flower. The house cat was chasing around a small ladybug off in the distance, determined to catch the elusive beetle._

_But for Adrien, life in the garden around them seemed to stand still as his mother read from the storybook, a tale that he would never forget. And no this wasn't a story about fairies, it was however a story about another type of tiny creatures._

_A story about the little people who lived under the floor boards and in between the walls, so small that they left hardly a trace of their existence. A smile appeared on the Agreste boy's face at the thought of being a borrower, a little person no less than two inches tall going on adventures in a big big world._

_Adrien's father always said that there was no such thing as little people, but his mother begged to differ. Adrien of course was on his mother's side._

_He would love to meet a borrower, a small friend that could fit in his pocket and could go with him anywhere. Someone to keep him company when he was lonely and when his parents were too busy to give him any attention._

_Being the son of a world famous fashion designer and a super-model meant he was constantly being moved around, accompanying his parents on all sorts of business trip and fashion shows all over the world. It also meant that he couldn't go to school or have any friends his age (his parents were always scared that someone would hurt him or use him due to his heritage)._

_Growing up Adrien was always alone._

_That's why he loved summer. Being able to sit in the meadows and gardens outside of his small cottage home with his mother, just reading and eating sugary treats, simply enjoying one another's company. Even though his father never accompanied them it didn't matter much because all Adrien needed in life was to be held in his mother's arms, listening to her soothing voice._

_Yes this was paradise for the young Agreste heir..._

_Yes this was **home**..._

\---

The car rolled smoothly across the free way, weaving in and out of traffic towards it's current destination, an airport.

Yeah not as exciting, but the now fifteen year old Adrien was used to this sort of travel. The blond boy had his head resting on the back of his hand as he looked boredly out of the car window, gazing lazily at the buildings and people passing by. Oh how he wished he could be one of them, free and able to casually walk to whatever destination they had in mind instead of constantly being shoved into a car and driven around by some large middle aged man who never spoke.

Adrien should be happy (instead of flying to god knows where to sit in the lobby or conference room of a large corporation) he was flying to a small airport in the middle of a small village in the south of France. A long car ride from there and he would be back at his families' summer cottage. The cozy home was once a safe place for the promising model, a little slice of peace in his otherwise hectic life.

That was until the accident...

The small cottage had lost it's appeal once he realized he would be there alone with out his mother. And after nearly a year since she... well you know... he was still brooding over it. His father decided that spending time at the cottage would help ease his mind off of it, but it did the opposite reminding the boy of what he lost.

A frown down played the corners of his lips as he existed the car and followed his father's assistant Nathalie to the company private jet. Sitting down in one of the plane's leather seats and reclining into the material, Adrien prayed for sleep to come soon, nothing was worse than a boring plane ride with nothing too do.

\---

Hurrying along the girl ran, holding the leaf over her head for camouflage a habit that she picked up from her father even though no one was currently living in the house in front of her. Correction, no  _human_  was currently living in the enormous cottage.

She was nearly there, two feet left to go when she heard the meow in the distance. The damn cat spotted her! Pushing the grass blades aside Marinette sprinted with all her might as the loud thumping of paws sounded behind her. She couldn't afford to look back and see how close the cat truly was, she could only keep moving forward.

The rustling of grass was growing louder and the ground was beginning to shake as the cat was gaining on her. The bluenette pushes another blade away from her face, no longer keeping the leaves over her head (what was the point, she was already seen by the stupid thing).

And then finally the grate appeared before her as she charged out of the grass and onto the cement slab. Just in time too, for the second she jumped between the bars the cat's large black paw came swatting at her. The feline had pushed itself completely against the grate, forcing as much of it's foreleg as it could between the bars in a desperate attempt to catch the girl.

"Better luck next time kitty cat!" The girl laughed as she picked back up her leafs and walked further in, towards several piles of bricks. 

But these weren't any random piles... this was her home. 

The reminiscence of a small borrower village lay under the floor boards of the large cottage, using the human building as a cover from the elements. Left over bricks were moved to form walls and other miscellaneous knick knacks were recycled and re-purposed for the borrower's needs.

Small scraps of fabric became clothes, buttons wheels, a bottle cork could be shaped into a rather nice chair while needles became swords. Yes this was the life borrowers lived by  _borrowing_ small things (things that the humans wouldn't miss or even notice disappearing) and using them to get by and survive. 

It wasn't the most preferable life style. A constant fear of being seen by the humans or stepped on was always there. Marinette never truly understood why they needed to hide, but her parents were adamant about keeping hidden. Their reasoning was that humans are a very curious species, one that will go to great lengths to satisfy their curiosity.

In all honesty Marinette was more afraid of that dumb black cat then she was of some giant, curious or not. The cat was a constant in the young borrower's life, the humans that reside in the house above were not. They often left the cottage for most of the year and only reappearing in the summer months, which where fast approaching. 

That was the busiest time of the year for the borrowers, and the most dangerous. During the summer months that the humans came they brought with them all sorts of fresh food and items which the borrowers need especially after such a harsh winter. But the human's arrival also brought with it the fear of having a being twenty times larger than you walking around over your head. 

Humans were  _loud_  and the ceiling always shakes when they're around.

It was because of the humans that most of the houses in the village where empty. The year before Marinette was born was the year when the humans started bringing a small boy to the house. The prospect of having a human child living there made several of the other families pack up and leave. Apparently human children were much more dangerous than the adults, which always confused Marinette (shouldn't that be the other way around since the children are smaller?).

The only borrowers left living in the village are Marinette and her parents, and her best friends Alya and Nino who arrived seven years ago after losing their families in a storm while traveling to a new home. Many of the borrower families in the are were moving around, but Marinette's parents saw no need to leave their home.

Walking up to one of the brick piles Marinette opened a small hatch like window and crawled inside. Her room was more garden than bedroom, filled with a vibrant assortment of different flowers and leaves that she had collected from her many trips to the garden. A small bed sat along the side of the room, across from is a desk and cushioned chair that her father made. Marinette of course embroidered the cushion and her bedding. A shard of glass that acted as a mirror sat behind another embroidered cushion that was Tikki's bed. Setting her leafs against a wall, the girl picked up a jasmine leave from the group and walked out of her room and down the hall towards the kitchen.

Her mother was in there, heating a pot of water for supper. Marinette's pet ladybug, Tikki, was curled up in front of the stove, sleeping blissfully in the warm atmosphere. 

"Hey Maman! I've got a surprise for you!" Marinette held the leaf behind her back, a cheeky smile on her face as the older borrower looked over to her with a curious expression.

Revealing the leaf, Marinette's mother Sabine let out a gasp. "Jasmine! This will go splendidly with dinner!" Sabine stopped as a puzzled expression passed over her face. Marinette swallowed. She was caught. "You didn't by chance have to go to the west side of the garden for this did you?"

"I-uhmmm" the blunette squeaked, her parents didn't allow any of the kids to venture to the west garden, it was too far away and way too close to that cat's favorite resting spot for comfort. "M-maybe." 

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, how many times have I told you to not go to the west garden!?" Her mother scolded "God knows what could of happened if that rotten feline had spotted you out there all alon-" The look on Marinette's face made Sabine realize that the cat did in fact spot her.

"I-i-i held the leaves over my head like Papa told me too! H-he didn't see me until I was almost home!" 

"Yes but you could of become cat food!" Sabine argued back, she was not going to let her daughter be reckless and get away with it.

"Who could of been cat food?"

Both Dupain-Cheng women froze when the third member of their family walked into the kitchen. Tikki woke from her nap and crawled over to Tom, allowing the man to pet her before the insect wandered down the hall to find some where to rest away from all the drama.

" _Your_  daughter is being reckless again all because she wanted to get a few leafs. Not only that but the cat saw her." 

"You didn't get caught," Tom said dumbfound as Marinette shook her head yes "HAHA! That's my girl! Did you use my leaf trick?"

"Of course Papa." Mr. Dupain pulled his daughter into a bone breaking hug then laughed and patted her shoulder. He was about to leave the conversation at that until he saw the disappointing glare that his wife gave him. Clearing his throat, Tom gave Marinette a disapproving look. "Don't do that again, you clearly gave your poor mother a heart attack."

"Yes Papa..."

\---

It was the next day when Adrien arrived at the small cottage. The dusty old building was just the way he left it last summer, back when his mother was still around. A meow in the distance pulled Adrien from his depressing train of thought before it became too much for him.

Plagg, the black house cat, lived at the cottage permanently. Adrien could never bring himself to force the cat to travel with him (the poor thing was scared of flying in planes). He was more of an out door cat anyway and the neighbors fed him when the Agrestes weren't in town.

The blond boy watched curiously as Plagg stalked around in the garden. This black tail was up vertically behind him in attention as the cat prowled forward, stalking whatever poor lizard or insect that had caught his attention. Suddenly the cat broke out in a sprint, stubbing his paw on a rock in the process. Losing his footing the cat fell to the side and into the creek.

A yowl ripped from him as a wet Plagg leapt away, scrambling as fast as he could to get away from the water.

Adrien opened the wooden gate that led to the garden and began to walk towards his furry friend... 

...only to stop when he saw what Plagg was chasing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: In case your confused, Adrien always calls the cottage small and Marinette always calls it big, this is of course because of their different perspectives due to their size difference.
> 
> A/N: Yes yes this is an Alternate Universe based off of the Secret World of Arrietty (one of my all time favorite Studio Ghibli movies) I noticed that there are very VERY few Miraculous AUs featuring tiny Marinette and so here I am writing one... whoop, original ideas!
> 
> A/N: Also Adrien has got that summer time, summer time sadness going on. Hopefully teeny Mari can make it all good.


	2. Unfortunate Luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom gets stuck under a rock that Plagg pushes over. Adrien over hears the commotion and comes to investigate. 
> 
> Anyone else think Adrien would be good at playing doctor?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fan-made story! Miraculous Ladybug is owned by Thomas Astruc and Zag Heroez. Please support the official release.

_It had been a good day. The sun was shinning, a gentle breeze caused the grass to sway gentle as the borrower family walked back to their home after a successful scavenging trip. A bundle of leaves and herbs was strung to her father's back as the large borrower man hummed in delight, watching his daughter skip down the path ahead without a care in the world. His wife walked by his side, her usual alertness dulled by the peaceful atmosphere... non of them saw the black feline approaching them until it was too late._

"Papa Nooo!" Marinette screamed as her mother tried desperately to pull her away from her injured father. The man's lower half was trapped under a boulder (which in reality was only a medium size rock). With his legs pinned to the ground, there was no way for him to flee the danger. The ground shook underneath them as the giant human came closer to the borrower family.

The bundle of leaves that the family worked so hard to collect laid on the ground several inches away, forgotten in their attempt to flee the cat. During the end of it's chase, the cat had knocked over a rock which landed on Tom as he pushed his wife out of harms way.

Of course to make matters worse the cat just had to attract the attention of a human! Because of all days, today just HAD to be the day that the humans returned to the cottage for their summer stay. Marinette cursed her rotten luck.

"Damn that cat! Damn it all!!!" Marinette cried as she finally let her frantic and terrified mother drag her away. Her father constantly begging them to leave before it was too late. The human boy was almost upon them now as Sabine finally managed to wrestle her daughter into a small rabbits den near the edge of the creek.

Marinette and her mother fell forward when the human knelt down besides the rock, his large knees landing on the soft soil with a loud thud. Tom looked up in fear as the human boys' shadow covered him. Marinette watched, silenced and restrained by her mother, completely helpless as the human reached down and lifted the boulder that had landed on her father's lower half.

Casually tossing the rock away, the human then carefully picked up the small borrower. 

Marinette's father was as long as the human's ring finger and lay in the middle of the boy's outstretched palm. Curiously the human examined the small being that he discovered, noticing that his leg was twisted at an odd angle. Marinette's breath caught in her throat when she heard Tom screamed in pain as the boy poked his injured leg. 

The human flinched, startled by the borrower's cry. He obliviously didn't except his touch to hurt the little man on his palm.

Suddenly the blond haired human stood up cradling the small borrower in his hands as ran towards the cottage, kicking up a cloud of dirt in his wake. Marinette tried to chase after him, but his longer legs made that impossible.

\---

Adrien cradled the man as he made his way through the house, pausing whenever his foot steps caused the wooden floor boards to creak. Nathaile was still home and the last thing Adrien wanted was for her to confiscate the borrower.

The small man laid on Adrien's palm showing no signs of resistance as if he accepted whatever fate the human had in store for him. Silent tears ran down his face, dampening his mustache. Whatever he thought Adrien would do to him wasn't good. The boy wanted nothing more than to reassure him that he meant him no harm. 

But that was going to have to wait. For now Adrien was more focused of treating the man's injured leg... and hopefully make a new friend.

The model gingerly wrapped his fingers around the borrower as he headed up the stairs, careful not to drop him as he climbed up to the second floor of the cottage. Walking down the hall he stopped in front of his bedroom door and quickly glanced down the hall to make sure Nathaile hadn't spotted him.

Confirming that they were alone, Adrien opened the door and hurried inside his safe haven locking the door behind him just in case Nathalie decided to pay him an unexpected visit. Adrien shuffled over to his bed and grabbed one of his pillows with his free hand. Placing the pillow on his desk, the boy gently laid the small man on top of the cushioned surface.

The man sat up on the pillow, his green eyes curiously following the blond boy's movements. Tom knew there was nothing for him to do. His leg was broken and he was currently stranded in the lion's den. His only prayer was that his wife and daughter were alright.

Adrien entered his bathroom and knelt down to the cabinet under the sink. With in two minutes he reemerged from the bathroom carrying a first aid kit. He placed it on the desk next to the borrower then pulled out his desk chair for him to sit on. Opening the lid Adrien removed the medical scissors, gauze, bandages and two popsicle sticks.

Carefully Adrien reached forward and lifted the borrower's leg, causing the man to yelp in pain. The boy used two fingers to gently push the fabric of his pants up, revealing the wound. Wincing at the bruised and slightly bleeding limb, Adrien reached over and removed rubbing alcohol and a cotton pad from the kit.

Opening the bottle and pouring some onto the pad, the human rubbed the injured leg gently. Tom hissed in pain from the stinging alcohol, he was debating if this was some type of sick torture. 

"So... your a borrower huh?" Tom flinched at the question. The boy had remained silent the entire time and the question startled him. Not only was this human aware of what a borrower was, but his voice was also calming and passive, like a whisper.

Tom didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything at all his fear of the giant keeping him silent.

The human seemed to notice his fear.

"It's ok if you don't want to talk. I get that... but I hope you realize that I ain't going to hurt you." He maneuvered the limb and attempted to straighten it. Borrowers were like tiny humans right so their bodies were similar as well, except for the obvious difference in size. The borrower yelled until Adrien popped his limb back in place. He gave the borrower a sheepish grin. "Well except for that... sorry."

The human took a gauze pad and wrapped it around Tom's now clean and straight leg. He then cut one of the popsicle sticks in half and placed them on either side in order to keep the limb in place so it could heal properly. "I'm Adrien by the way."

Adrien stuck his pinky finger in front of him. The borrower reluctantly shook his pinky. "I-i-i'm T-Tom."

Adrien smiled down at the man as he started to wrap the bandage roll around the gauze and sticks. "It's nice to meet you Tom."

Tom watched in curiosity as the boy continued to work, the smile on Adrien's face never fading. It was contagious because soon Tom was smiling too. There was something about this human child that put the borrower at ease, who knew that the little human that arrived at the cottage 15 years ago would grow up to be such a kind hearted young man.

"There all done!" Adrien said as he started to pack up the first aid supplies, "Try not to move that leg around too much until it's completely healed."

"T-thank you... S-so what a-are you going to do with me n-now?" Tom stuttered. Adrien stopped momentarily as he contemplated the borrower's words. 

"I guess I take you back home."

\---

Marinette sped through the grass dragging her mother behind her. Both Dupain-Cheng women hurried back to the cottage trying in vain to catch up with the giant that took the man of their family. By the time they reached the grate the human had long since disappeared inside of the building above. 

Where he took Marinette's father was a mystery, but either way the blunette was determined to find him. Her mother on the other hand did not share her determination.

"Marinette sweety stop." The girl wirled around to face her shorter mother. "I'm sorry sweety but I'm afraid that he's gone. The human has him and even if we do find Tom, there is no way to get him away from the human. He might be de-"

"No he's not!" Marinette cried, her small frame shuddered at the thought of her father dying. "Papa's not dead, he can't be."

"Marinette, Sabine, where's Tom?" Alya and Nino wandered over as soon as they saw the two.

Sabine was the one to answer the worried couple. "A human found us and took Tom."

"A WHAT?! We have to get him back!" Alya turned and sprinted towards the pulley system, they would need it to enter the house above.

"Alya wait up!" Nino cried as he raced after his girlfriend, the dark skin boy was always having to talk sense into his spontaneous girlfriend's thick skull.

Before Marinette could follow them her mother stopped her. "Marinette, Marinette sweety please don't go after your father. He rather you be safe than risking your life to save him."

"Maman how could you abandon Papa like that?"

Marinette never got an answer because the sound of large footsteps over head cut off any response that her mother would of given. Dust rained down from the shaking ceiling. The footsteps faded away from over head, but at the same time they got louder from outside the grate.

Marinette and her mother watch as two enormous jean clad legs moved into view on the other side of the grate. The legs bent as the human crouched down, lowering his hands onto the stone slab. Marinette's breath caught when she saw what he placed outside of the grate. 

Sitting right there in front of her was her father Tom, safe and sound... as well as patched up?

As soon as the human got up and moved away, Marinette and Sabine ran out of the grate and tackled Tom in a loving hug. When the two pulled away, Marinette noticed Tom's wrapped up leg as well as the tears of joy in the big man's eyes. "I'm ok my darlings. I'm ok."

_"Everything is going to be ok..."_


	3. First Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette visits Adrien's room one night and thanks him for rescuing her father. The two begin talking and bonding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fan-made story! Miraculous Ladybug is owned by Thomas Astruc and Zag Heroez. Please support the official release.

All her life Marinette has been told that humans were these dangerous giant beings that let their curiosity endanger the lives of other creatures. That they were to be feared. That they were monsters... but he wasn't. She had seen him several times before, the human boy with sun kissed hair and the most striking green eyes, he was here every summer so of course she has seen him before.   
So naturally she noticed the things he did. Marinette would always notice how kind the boy was to other humans that visited the house, and how kind he was to that blasted cat. But she never would of dreamed that he would also show that kindness to a borrower...  
And now here she was, scaling the side of the cottage using the weaving vine plants that grew up the buildings side to climb higher to reach the second floor just so she could meet the human boy. Not only did he save her father's life, but also didn't make any attempts to force information from him or pursue the borrower man after he released him. And that alone was driving Marinette crazy trying to figure out this boy's, this human's, motives.  
Her curiosity was most likely going to be the death of her. This thought kept racing through her head as she clung to the vine as another breeze shakes the leaves surrounding her. A fall from this height would be fatal for the small borrower.  
But she needed to push on forward. Darkness would soon eclipse the cottage as dusk was steadily approaching, and God knows that she didn't want to be stuck hanging on the side of the colossal building in the dark. So hushing the warring thoughts in her head, Marinette continued upward to the second floor.  
\---  
Adrien sighed deeply. It was the only sound that disrupted the constant clinking of silverware at the dinner table as he ate in silence in the company of his father's assistant Nathalie (who was more like a glorified babysitter than anything else). At the sound, Nathalie looked up from her own meal and inquired if something was the matter.  
"No, no it's nothing." Adrien lied swiftly. He was still bummed that the borrower he met was so frozen with fear that he didn't even get to talk to him that much. He was also worried about the little guy, and hoped that he got home safely.  
Silence returned to the table and a few minutes later Adrien excused himself and wandered back upstairs. He pulled out his pajamas, a dark green long sleeved shirt and some black sweat pants, and quickly changed before flopping back onto his bed. Staring at the roof he began to wonder if the borrower, Tom, had a family or friends. What if he was all alone in this house just like Adrien was?  
A small tapping noise outside the window drew the blonde boy's attention. He rolled over on the bed to glance at the window, seeing nothing at first. Sighing he was about to roll back over when the tapping noise started again. Adrien looked again seeing the same sight as before, the window partially open to allow in the fresh night air, a few leaves from the vines draped the frame of the window. But on closer inspection he could just make out the faint outline of a girl standing out behind a leaf.  
'Welp... that answers that question...' Adrien was sitting up now. Yeah that was defiantly a borrower's outline, even in the darkness there was no other creature that small and human like.   
His emerald eyes felt piercing to Marinette as she hid behind a leaf. 'This is a bad idea, this is a bad idea! What was I thinking?!?! I should probably just turn around and go home, pretend that nothing ever happened--'  
"Is anyone there?"  
The human's booming voice startled her and she let out a terrified yelp. She couldn't turn back now that he spotted her. 'Yup officially dead now!'  
‘Shit! Too loud Agreste! Softer softer…’  
“Is anyone there?” This time his voice was barely above a whisper. ‘Nailed it!’  
Marinette was surprised by the sudden gentle tone of his voice, hearing the light raspy quality that it took on when he whispered caused her cheeks to heat up slightly. ‘Damn it Marinette! He’s a human for crying out loud, pull yourself together woman!’   
There was a loud shuffling noise on the other side as the leaf as Adrien sat up, his feet touching the ground several inches below, a distance that felt more like miles to Marinette. God he’s massive. She always knew humans were big, but this was ridiculous and he wasn’t even fully grown yet! Inhaling a deep breath to steel her nerves Marinette stepped forward slightly, still under the cover of the leaf.  
“T-tha-ank y-y-ou…” she squeaked, inwardly cursing herself for letting her nerves show. She didn’t want to appear weak, but she couldn’t help it if his size was intimidating. And yet she needed to thank him, she needed to show her appreciation for saving her father’s life.  
Adrien on the other hand was smiling widely, he felt disheartened at first due to her stutter and yet he felt so much warmth that she was there in the first place. “For what?”   
“F-for help-helping m-m-my f-fath-er...”  
“Oh well your welcome, I guess, um, what are neighbors for?” A sheepish grin stretched on his face. Boy he really needed to work on his people skills (he would if he was ever allowed to talk to others like a normal person).  
Marinette froze for a second. He considered the borrower’s his neighbors? They practically live under his house and stole from him daily and yet he appeared to think of them as neighbors? God this human was giving her such the headache (and a heartache), with his unending kindness and that stupid smile that was brighter than a thousand stars, those emerald eyes and sun kissed hair--- yup Marinette needed to stop herself right now because the giant was still talking to her and she was ignoring him in favor of day dreaming about his unnatural levels of hotness, like it was unfair to be that hot, and Marinette needs to stop herself like now. She was in too deep already and this was her first conversation(ish) with the boy. She really needs to have a sit down with Alya and vent about all of this, because she’s considering a relationship with a human! A HUMAN!!!  
Adrien however was happily asking question after question to the small girl, not even bothering to wait for a response, just happy to have someone to talk to for once that wasn’t Nathalie. After a few minutes of rambling he paused to let her start answering him, hoping he didn’t accidentally drown out any of her responses, cause god her voice was as small as she was. It was also quite cute, even with her stutter.   
Yes Adrien was determined to befriend this borrower, he would not let another potential friendship opportunity pass him by!  
Finally noticing that he stopped talking Marinette shook off her inner voice telling her to take the him and started to pay attention to the blonde boy that was thirty times her size. “W-what di-d y-you say-y? S-sorry I spac-ced o-out…”  
The human chuckled softly, a sound that Marinette thought was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.  
“Oh, that’s alright.” He awkwardly raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck, an action that Marinette had seen him preform several times before. “Let’s start over, hi my name’s Adrien.”  
After a pause he whispered even quieter “And this is the part when you introduce yourself.”  
Introduce herself? Oh… “O-oh! S-sorry, I’m M-marinette.”  
“Marinette, Marinette…” Adrien chanted it quietly, liking the way it sounded as he memorized it. However he couldn’t put a face to the name with her standing behind that leaf like she was. “Could… could I see you?”  
Marinette rapidly shook her head in a reaffirming NO causing the human boy to pout (which she found adorable). “Please.” He whined (again curse his stupidly adorable face!).  
“No means no big boy. Humans aren’t supposed to see borrowers; heck you guys aren’t even supposed to know that we exist!” She sassed back, pleased with the lack of stuttering (seriously though, who can ever be intimidated by someone with such an adorable pouty face?).  
It seems that Adrien was also pleased with her confident answer, a broad smile over taking his pout. “Well then, I don’t need to see you if you’re willing to stay and talk with me.”  
And talk they did.  
Marinette told Adrien all about her adventures of being a borrower, and her many daring escapes from the monstrous beast cat, who’s name she discovered to be Plagg (to which Adrien teased her a lot saying that Plagg is a big softy who has this tough guy act going, to which she responds with “not when you’re the size of a mouse he ain’t”).  
Adrien in turn told Marinette about life outside of the cottage garden; about big cities and vast oceans, skiing trips on mountains and trekking through ancient forests.   
And all the photo shoot drama that he has had to put up with in his 5 years of modeling. It turns out that Marinette loves fashion and was always captivated whenever he described a dress or outfit.  
He even told her all about his loving mother (which caused many tears to be shed on his part). And as night turned to early morning, the young borrower girl promised to return the next night and continue their conversations.   
And return she did.   
Every night for a week Adrien’s bedroom was filled with laughter as the two chatted up a storm, until one day…  
“What do you mean you can’t dance?”


End file.
